Michael Marcagi Interview - Midwest Kid EP, Writing His Songs

This past year has been a breakthrough for folk/rock singer/songwriter Michael Marcagi. Before last year, Marcagi was a regional artist who was best known for being a member of the band, The Heavy Hours. But then he had a viral hit with his song “Scared to Start,” and he further built his audience with the release of his acclaimed debut EP, American Romance.

Now in 2025, Marcagi appears headed for even higher level, with the release this week (April 18) of his second EP, Midwest Kid (on Warner Records). This is an excellent collection of five songs that showcases his skills as a songwriter & storyteller, his soulful, expressive lead vocals, and the heartfelt emotion he conveys with his music.

Marcagi grew up and still lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he maintains close relationships with his friends and family back home. He greatly values his life in the Midwest, so he decided to write songs about his life experience as a Midwest kid, and how he holds on to his roots even as he expands his career in the music business and travels extensively on concert tours.

Marcagi’s new 5-song EP starts impressively with “Wish I Never Met You,” which he wrote with Wesley Schultz, who is the lead singer & co-writer for the popular band, the Lumineers. Schultz is also the featured vocalist on this song.

After that, Marcagi introduces three powerful songs—“Follows You,” “Midwest Kid” and “Flyover State”—that get to the heart of this EP’s theme, which is how he reflects on his hometown life and roots, while moving forward with his life as an artist & musician who is having worldwide success. Then the EP ends in a more acoustic, understated way, with his song “Stick Around.”

For his Midwest Kid EP, Marcagi teamed up again with producer/musician David Baron, who produced Marcagi’s first EP, American Romance. Also on this EP, Marcagi explores his co-writing, collaborating with Wesley Schultz, hit songwriter Dan Wilson (formerly of the band Semisonic) and with other writers.

In addition to his American Romance and Midwest Kid EPs, Marcagi has released other strong songs during the past year. A few months ago he released one of his best songs “Keep Me Honest,” plus his songs “Good Enough” and “Tear It All Apart.”

Here’s the audio of Michael Marcagi’s song, “Midwest Kid.”

Now with the release of his new EP, Marcagi is looking forward to touring to play his new songs live. First, he will be traveling to Europe to open for the Lumineers on a major tour. Then he will come to the U.S. to play festivals this summer, followed by a new tour as a headliner later this year.

We are pleased to do this new Q&A interview with Michael Marcagi. He discusses his musical journey over the past year, and tells how he wrote the songs on his new EP.

DK: Last year you had a hit with your song “Scared to Start” and you released your first EP, American Romance. What was it like to have that breakthrough year?

Michael Marcagi: Still to this day, it’s something that I can’t believe happened. It was very unexpected. To have a song reach the amount of people that it did, and open doors for me is something that I’m really grateful for. It’s been a wild ride. I went from trying to start a solo career and not really knowing what was going to happen, to the song blowing up and getting to play my own headline tour and open up for a lot of bands that I’ve always admired and dreamed of playing with. So it’s been like this little rocket ship that has taken off over the past year.

DK: After your first EP came out, you later released some new singles: “Keep Me Honest,” “Good Enough” and “Tear It All Apart. Can you talk about these songs?

Marcagi: After working hard to write the songs that were on my original EP, I wrote these three songs while I was trying to figure out what this whole music thing was going to be like for me, and it was really fun. One of those songs (“Good Enough”) I got to write with Wesley Schultz of the Lumineers, so it was another door opening that I didn’t expect, and another cool experience that I’ve had this year.

DK: I like all five songs on your new EP, Midwest Kid. The songs are very heartfelt and emotional, with strong melodies. Can you talk about the making of your new EP?

Here’s the audio of Michael Marcagi’s song, “Follows You.”

Marcagi: The new EP was a lot of fun to make. I did it in upstate New York with the same producer (David Baron) that I’ve done all my songs with. We wanted to continue and get more songs out, so we would be able to play more songs that people know at our live show. These songs came together over the past year, and it’s fun to really form my sound and what I want to sing about and have more opportunities to do that. The first song on my new EP is a duet where Wesley Schultz of the Lumineers gets to sing with me, which is really cool. The Lumineers have meant a lot to me, and getting to write and sing with one of my musical heroes is really surreal to me.

DK: I read that you’re from Cincinnati, Ohio, and that you still called the Midwest your home. Can you talk about your roots, and how growing up in the Midwest has affected your perspective on life and your music?

Marcagi: Yeah, the Midwest is all I’ve ever known at this point. I think for me, a lot of this EP and the themes around it talk about my experience that I thought was maybe unique to the Midwest, but as I’ve grown up are probably more universal feelings than I thought. Maybe it’s feeling a little sheltered or wanting to get out and break out of your small place that you’re from. I love the Midwest—all the people that I love in the world live around here, and my family and friends are still back here. But yeah, a lot of the things I was trying to say and sing about on the EP, are this feeling of wanting to get out, but also being from a place that a lot of people overlook, and that feeling of imposter syndrome or not feeling like your story is worthy of being told, is a lot of the themes I’m trying to touch on.

DK: One of my favorite songs on your new EP is “Follows You,” which is emotional and powerful. What inspired you to write this song?

Marcagi: That’s also one of my favorites, so thank you. I think for me, that one was this idea of…I thought that when I’d be on the road and seeing all these new places, that all of my problems that I’ve ever had would disappear. I wouldn’t have to worry about the things back home and the things that have affected me over the years. And it’s like a reminder to myself that if you don’t deal with your personal issues and the things from your past that might be holding you back, they stick around and they follow you. And you have to be mature and address the things that might be weighing you down.

Here’s the lyric video of Michael Marcagi’s song, “Flyover State.”

DK: I also like your song, “Flyover State,” and you say that your home state is one that people often fly over and might not think about much. Can you talk about writing that song?

Marcagi: I heard the term “Flyover State” a few years ago, that a lot of the Midwest is just considered flyover country or flyover states, where no one actually visits. It’s just places you fly over when you’re going to more important places. And I think that was the central theme of the whole EP that I was trying to write, was being from a place that maybe no one cares about or that no one thinks is important. And I think for me in the music industry, especially to have my break or a song get popular later in my life too, is that maybe I’m not as good as you know, the songwriters or the people in New York or L.A. for that matter. So it’s like an anthem of being from a place where maybe [some people think] it’s not that important.

DK: The first song on your new EP is “I Wish I Never Met You,” which features Wesley Schultz of the Lumineers, and you had earlier written your song “Good Enough” with Wesley. How did you first connect with Wesley, and can you talk about writing that song with him?

Marcagi: I’ve gotten to know Wesley pretty well over the past year. We have the same producer, David Baron, and we both record with him at the same place in upstate New York. David is a great producer, ane he introduced us. He thought that we would get along. And Wes and his family have been great to me. They’ve been super supportive and given me great advice and been there for me throughout this whole year and this process.

And so Wesley and I got to write one song together, and then we were going to do another one. We sat down and hung out in upstate New York for a few days, and wrote the song in the first couple of days and then recorded it. It was a really fun time. I feel comfortable with him, and he’s a down-to-earth guy. We kind of view the world the same way.

DK: I want to ask you about your songwriting process. I looked at your credits and some songs you’ve written by yourself, and you’ve co-written songs with Wesley Schultz, Dan Wilson and others. So are you getting more into co-writing?

Here’s the audio of Michael Marcagi’s song, “Wish I Never
Met You” (feat. Wesley Schultz).

Marcagi: Yeah, the collaboration thing is new for me. The first couple of songs that I’ve released were written by myself in my bedroom, just picking away on an acoustic guitar and I’m not the fastest when I write by myself. A lot of these songs that I’ve written have taken months of trying to figure out the chords and the lyrics, and what I want the song to be about.

Then once I got the first EP out, and I was given the opportunity to try the co-writing thing and I was excited to try it. I didn’t know how the process worked, but I know that getting to collaborate with (hit songwriter) Dan Wilson of Semisonic or these other talented people, I was willing to give it a try. And it was surprising. I enjoyed it way more than I thought I was going to. You’re writing a song in a few days, as opposed to spending a month on it. And it’s like a different part of your brain that is getting worked when you’re sitting in a room trying to come up with something on the spot. But it’s been really cool.

I always want to keep learning, and I’m never going to think that I have it all figured out, that I’m the best songwriter in the world and I can do it on my own. So to get in front of all of these legends that have written great songs, it’s a fun learning experience. It’s cool to see how other people’s brains work and how fast they are, and see their different tricks and tips for songwriting.

DK: I read that you’ll be launching a major tour in Europe opening for the Lumineers. Can you talk about your live show and this tour coming up?

Marcagi: We leave in a week to go to Europe to open for the Lumineers. We’ll be there for about six weeks and it’s going to be amazing. It’s another pinch me moment where it’s one of my favorite bands and you get to open up for them. We’re going to be playing all these big places with the Lumineers and it’s going to be fun. I’m looking forward to being with the Lumineers and their crew. And it’s great to get to see all these beautiful places in Europe.

DK: After your European tour, are you going to come back to the U.S. and headline your own shows?

Marcagi: We just finished a long headline run in the U.S. a month ago. So we’re going to do this Lumineers tour, and then come back and do some festivals and open up for some other bands here in the States. And then hopefully we’ll come out with our album, and then another headline tour in the U.S.